Internationals
It had been the best summer series of all the Tier I tours but the finale of the New Zealand-England series wasn't close as the All Blacks dominated in a 36-13 win. New Zealand pounced on England early with Julian Savea scoring tries in the 3rd and 8th minute. Aaron Smith then added two of his own in the 26th and 33rd minutes. England only managed two penalties from Freddie Burns as they went into halftime down 29-6. In the second half Marland Yarde scored for England to add to his summer tally but Savea finished off the game and his hat-trick in the 80th minute.
While the New Zealand-England match wasn't as thrilling the South Africa-Wales match turned out to be an amazing match. As you would expect with both teams it was often a slugfest and referee Steve Walsh played a central role. Wales jumped out to a 17-0 lead with tries from Jamie Roberts and Dan Biggar. However, a penalty try and then a try from Cornal Hendricks made it a 14-17 game at the break.
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Ken Owens increased Wales's lead in the second half but a try from Willie le Roux put South African right back in it. With time winding down Hendricks once again looked to score but a dangerous tackle from Liam Williams as he was diving in gave South Africa a penalty try and a conversion in front of the posts which Morne Steyn made for the win.
Over in Australia, France have flamed out on their tour as the Wallabies got the sweep. It wasn't even close as Israel Folau led the way for Australia with two tries in a 39-13 win. With the World Cup only a year away France now look poised for a major change. Another team struggling mightily is Italy, who dropped all three of their matches to the Pacific. Their latest loss was a 26-23 result to Japan. Eddie Jones has his Japanese team playing very well and now into the top ten. Lastly among the Tier I nations, Scotland beat Argentina 21-19 to keep their solid summer going.
Tier II Tournaments
In a Pacific Nations Cup battle Samoa topped Fiji 18-13. With a pair of victories this last week Emerging Ireland have won the Nations Cup. They beat Uruguay 51-3 last Thursday and then Romania 31-10 on Sunday. In the other matches Romania beat Russia 20-18 on Thursday and the Uruguay beat Russia 13-6 on Sunday. Over in Tbilisi the Argentina Jaguars won the Tbilisi Cup. They beat Georgia 26-16 earlier in the week before beating Spain 41-7 on Sunday. Georgia beat Emerging Italy 34-10 on Sunday but Emerging Italy did beat Spain 37-0 earlier in the week.
Junior World Championship
England have won back to back Junior World Championships after they defeated South Africa 21-20 in a thrilling final. Hosts New Zealand missed out on the final but won third by beating Ireland 45-23. Australia took home 5th over France 34-27, Wales won 7th over Samoa 20-3, Argentina were 9th over Scotland 41-21, and Italy avoided relegation by beating Fiji 17-22. Fiji will play in the Junior World Rugby Trophy next year.
Shute Shield
Another week another win for Manly as they beat Parramatta 28-15. The challengers also had good weeks. Warringah beat Easts 26-11 and Eastwood beat Gordon 55-10. In other results Randwick beat Wests 38-26, Souths beat Penrith 44-22, and Sydney University beat Norths 39-19.